3 plus 1 is much more fun
by Icefire Apple
Summary: What if three became four? What if our golden trio was to have a fourth member? Follow Sphotana as she goes to hogwarts, joins Harry, Ron and Hermione on thier adventures and finds out about her unique abilities. watch as she changes the story completely.
1. prologue

**This is being redone, I was not happy with some things I have written and am in the process of changing them. This might take a while because me computer died a while ago, and I can't change everything on our ipad, only write new stuff, so please bear with me, and the few moments I can get on other computers.**

* * *

><p><strong>Well this is the beginning of my first story; I'm really excited about it and kinda proud too I guess<strong>

**I think it turned out quite good if you anticipate the fact that I wrote most of it during lessons**

**I don't own any of the original stuff just Sphotana, her parents and any of the things that don't seem familiar**

**OK enough of my rambling, on with the story...**

* * *

><p><em>Thousands of years ago when the world was young,<em>

_All wizards and witches, all living things spoke the same language._

_But the human race thought they were better than the rest,_

_So they invented their own language and over time forgot about communication._

_The gift of speech is now seen as a legend, a fairytale._

_Only one child in thousands is born with this gift,_

_One child in thousands is a Rilir Elamia._

_Excerpt of "Rilir Elamia: Fact or fiction?" Hogwarts library_

* * *

><p><span>Prologue<span>

My parents, Pete and Sara-lin Nightlark, were very surprised when they found me on their doorstep. They were even more surprised when they saw my blood-red hair. And my mother almost fainted when I opened my eyes showing slit pupils and yellow irises. My father knew instantly, he told me, that I was a witch. No muggle child could have such eyes.

As a child I often heard the story of how I came to my parents. The only thing I didn't understand was my name: Sphotara. When I asked my mother, she explained that, at the beginning they couldn't decide, she having wanted Apple, because of my hair, Pete wanting something sophisticated like Karin, don' t ask me why. But then a friend of hers, who had a thing for strange names, had come up with Sphotana after seeing me accidentally make a muggle car explode. It was the only name both she and my father liked so it kinda stuck. My parents carefully kept me away from cars and such after that incident.

We moved to a big estate house in the country, where I stayed for most of my childhood, my parents' homeschooling me, while trying to teach me how to control my overly explosive magic. I often lost control and made things break, freeze, burn or get destroyed in some other way. However my parents never seemed to mind over time I started losing it less often until I could, at the age of 10, control it almost perfectly. Most of the time I didn't spend leaning, I spent outside in the meadows and forests surrounding our home, playing with the animals there.

I never told my parents, but I can talk with animals, they are my friends, the only true friends I ever had, seeing as I was never had good social skills and usually people were scared of me because of my hair and eyes. I grew accustomed to this however and it never really bothered me either. After some time I got the habit of always walking around with my head down when among other people so that they didn't see my eyes and cause a panic as it had happened often when we went to the nearest town to get the groceries.

All in all I think I had a very nice childhood, however my parents always fretted that when I started going to Hogwarts, I wouldn't make any friends because of my upbringing being so different and all. But when my letter came they were very happy for me, despite their fears and even gave me a present: a black owl with white specks on her wings, which I promptly fell in love with and who told me she was called Frost.

I couldn't decide if I was happy about going to Hogwarts or not. On the one hand I would be learning new things my parents were reluctant to teach me, but on the other I would be leaving home, my parents, my friends. I didn't even know if I'd make friends at school, or if they'd all be suspicious because of my looks. In the end I decided that even if the other students were mistrusting I could still find new animals to befriend and I began to look forward to it. The only thing I was still worried about was the trip to Diagon Alley to get my things, as I was still rather afraid of large crowds and Diagon Alley was always full.

* * *

><p><strong>How was that for a first chapter? I know it was a little short and nothing much happened <strong>

**but I had to get it out of the way so the real stuff could start**

**so please review and tell me what you think: what could I do better?, what was good?**

**I love hearing readers ideas, what could happen in future chapters, it really inspires me, please let me know you're thougts on it, thanks.  
><strong>

**Icefire  
><strong>


	2. ch 1 Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley

A small girl trailed after a tall brown haired man and a dark haired, olive skinned woman through London's busy streets. The girl kept her eyes fixed on the pavement and seemed rather tense. The woman stopped, turning around and held out her hand,

" Come on, we're almost there." she murmured comfortingly, a slight accent marring her voice.

The girl slowly took the woman's hand and they continued down the street. They passed book shops and music stores, pubs and restaurants, electronic sales, hamburger bars and cinemas. Finally they stepped into a side street and stopped in front of a record shop.

The adults looked at each other, nodded and the man opened a small back door wedged in between the record shop and the houses next to it. He slipped inside, the girl following with the woman bringing up the rear, closing the door behind her.

Sphotana's head snapped, up golden eyes taking in everything around her. The Leaky cauldron was, as ever, packed. Witches and wizards from all over the country talking, laughing, drinking or smoking sat at the numerous tables. The noise was, for Sphotana's sensitive ears, deafening.

"Hey Pete, old buddy over here,"

A tall blond man stood up waving at the people by the door. They squeezed past tables and chairs to reach a group of adults crowded around a small table, littered with butterbeer bottles. Pete, Sphotana's father was immediately hailed with another bottle, while some of his friends, having never seen her before, eyed Sphotana, who was standing shyly behind her mother, both a little way apart from the rowdy group.

Pete, noticing the strange glances, beckoned them over.

"Let me introduce my wife, Sara-lin."

He was interrupted by his blond friend who said: "No offence Sara-lin, but seriously Pete you've been married for over 11 years, now who's the pretty young lady?" He smiled at Sphotana, a twinkling in his eyes.

"This is Sphotana, my adopted daughter." Pete explained.

"This is the tiny kid?"

"My, she has grown!"

Exclamations came from all directions. Most of Sphotanas parents friends had seen her years before, but when they had moved almost all ties had pretty much fallen dead, she had been a constant danger to anyone she didn't know so most people had stayed away, only rarely meeting with Pete and Sara-lin at Diagon Alley when they came to get something.

"Yeah, this is the little kid who stared at you all like she wanted to murder you," Pete laughed. Sphotana's eyes, still cast downwards, widened at that titbit of information.

"And now she's all grown up and starting school!" He finished proudly.

"So your here to get her things?"

Sara-lin nodded then turned to her husband, "Pete, if you want, stay here for a while, Sphotana and I will be fine on our own, ok"

Pete looked up at his wife, then to his daughter "Alright, but we meet back here in 2 hours, I want to see my little girl get her wand," He ruffled her hair, "Oh and love; have you got the key?"

"Of course." As they turned to leave Pete's tall friend, who had called them over in the first place stood up.

"I'll accompany you, I have to find my son anyway," He smiled down at the small girl," I'm Rick, Rick Burns, my son Timothy is starting his third year at Hogwarts, Ravenclaw" her explained.

The girl, probably not even half his height, smiled, still not meeting his eyes, murmuring: "Hello Mr Burns, nice to meet you..." she trailed off.

Mr Burns laughed "Ricks fine, and hey, I'm no monster, you can look at me you know. And if it's about your eyes, I've seen them before and to be frank, demon eyes don't scare me, ok Firehead?"

Sphotana looked up, anger at the term demon eyes flashing across her face, but seeing the sparkle in Ricks eyes the anger turned to surprise; hardly anyone she had known in her short life had treated her like a normal person, let alone given her a nickname.

She smiled up at Rick, 'demon' eyes glowing. Sara-lin, having seen her daughter look so happily at Rick, smiled secretly. "Ok Sphotana come with me, we've got a lot to do today."

She led the way, Rick ambling after them, to the small courtyard at the back, took out her wand and tapped it against some of the bricks above the dustbins. Sphotana watched wide eyed as the bricks resorted themselves to form a wide archway.

Rick, seeing Sphotana's face, chuckled "Never been to Diagon Alley before, huh?" She shook her head, still staring.

"Well this is only the beginning."

They stepped through the archway, which closed behind them, to a cobbled street where witches and wizards flocked around the numerous shops. Sphotana hissed quietly shrinking back slightly. But when Rick started walking through the crowd, smiling back at her, she hurried after him.

Sphotana wished she was a spider. Spiders have 8 eyes and could look in many different directions at once if they wanted to. She, having only 2 eyes could only turn her head as fast as possible to try to see everything around her.

They walked past bookshops, apothecaries, cafes and plenty of other shops selling things Sphotana had no name for, eventually reaching a snow white building , that towered over the rest of the street. The words 'Gringotts Wizarding Bank' were engraved and painted gold.

They passed through the bronze doors to find a new pair of doors, silver this time, flanked by a pair of goblins, whose eyes, although Sphotana didn't realise it , widened when they saw her. They shot each other a covert glance then stared at the timid girl, who had stopped to read the words on the silver doors:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn,

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

Rick stood behind her and whispered in her ear: "Very welcoming, eh?" She nodded then moved forward towards the doors, following her mother while the goblins bowed low. Suddenly she stopped, turned around and bowed back, then hurried after her mother and Rick, who were standing at one of the desks that lined the huge marble hall.

"Of course, sir. I will have you taken down to both vaults, in just a moment." A goblin was saying as Sphotana joined them.

On the desk between them lay two small golden keys, one with a large letter 'B' on behind a candle flame on it, the other with a nightingale flying over a large 'N'. Suddenly the goblin snatched the keys up and passed them to a second goblin standing behind him, who beckoned Sphotana, Rick and Sara-lin to follow him.

He led the way to one of the many doors around the edges of the hall, opened it and stepped back to allow them entry. They stepped onto a small stone platform with railways leading away into the darkness.

The goblin whistled and a small cart came speeding out of the gloom, stopping abruptly in front of them. Sphotana eyeed the cart warily. That little thing would never hold so many people!

"Come on, Firehead. These carts can hold a lot more than 2 ½ people and a goblin."

How did he know what to say to make her feel better? She thought as she climbed into the rickety cart which took off immediately, almost making Sphotana fall off the back, but Sara-lin grabbed her hand and pulled her back up.

Once seated she stared around, they were currently hurling along a stone passage lined with archways with heavy metal doors set about two meters into the wall.

Suddenly the tracks went spinning into the air above a black lake that glittered seemingly miles below them, promising death to anyone who fell into its freezing depths.

Back into a tunnel, more doors, more tunnels, finally stopping in front of a door that had the number 485 in the stone above it. The goblin got out and unlocked the door with the key with the 'N' on it. Sara-lin swept past the goblin into the vault motioning Sphotana to follow.

Inside there was a small pile of gold Galleons, silver Sickles and bronze Knuts were stacked neatly. As Sara-lin scooped some of the money into her purse her daughter asked: "Mum, why does your key have a nightingale on it? I thought our name was Nightlark."

Sara-lin chuckled, "It was the key of your father's great, great grandmother. Her maiden name was Nightingale and when she married her Gringotts key was changed, but she wanted to keep the Nightingale. And now your farther gave it to me so I can get into the vault too."

Sphotana nodded and followed her mother out of the vault, the door falling shut behind her. Rick was still waiting in the cart and once everyone had piled back in the cart set off to another vault which Rich went into and came back a moment later tucking a small bag into his robes.

They set off for a third time. A quarter of an hour later they were back in the marble hall, the two adults blinking in the bright light, Sphotana looking around, drinking in every detail of the things around her, slit eyes already adjusted to the light.

Outside Gringotts they headed towards 'Madame Malkins Robes for all Occasions' to get Sphotana's new robes. Madam Malkin, a squat witch, came out from behind the counter as Rick and Sara-lin vanished into the racks of multicoloured robes.

"Hogwarts, dear?"

Sphotana nodded shyly.

"Come with me, dear" she walked to the back of the shop and told Sphotana to stand on a stool, reappearing with a long black robe in her hand.

She slipped the robe over the small child's head and started taking measurements with comments such as "My you are small, aren't you" and "If I take a bit more off there..." When she was finished, she disappeared through a curtain with the robe, glittering with pins in her hand.

A short while later she came back around the counter with a large package under her arm. Sara-lin went to her while Sphotana examined the wonderful robes on display.

Next they went to Flourish and Blotts where Book all shapes, sizes and colour about every imaginable and unimaginable topic covered the shelves and floor. Sphotana and Rick browsed the many shelves as Sara-lin went to the counter and asked for the set books on the list that had come with Sphotana's Hogwarts letter.

Rick also found his son, Timothy, reading a very large book whose title Sphotana couldn't understand. After talking with his son for a moment Rick joined them again just as they were leaving the shop.

They went into so many other different shops that morning that poor Sphotana was totally confused by the time they stopped for an ice-cream at 'Florean Fortescues Ice-cream Parlour'.

Finally they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to get Pete and go get Sphotana's wand. As they neared Ollivanders a couple of muggles by the look of them came out with a girl following them. She had very bushy brown hair and her nose was stuck in a book called 'The Standard Book of Spells'. Sphotana remembered it being on the list of school books they had got earlier.

The family walked back towards the Leaky Cauldron whispering and pointing at things. Sphotana watched them until they were out of sight in the crowd and then followed her father in to the little shop, noticing that Rick wandered off towards 'Scribbulus Writing Equipment'.

Inside Sphotana looked around. All along the walls boxes were stacked up in disarray all labelled with strange signs. Mr. Ollivander stepped out from behind the counter.

"Ahh, good day."

He came and shook hands, first with Sphotana's father saying: "Pete Nightlark, pine and unicorn hair, 10 inches, was it not?"

Pete nodded as Mr. Ollivander shook Sara-lins hand, "Now I don't remember you...?"

"No, my wand came from my home country," she explained gently.

Mr. Ollivander then turned to Sphotana and held out his hand. When she didn't react Sara-lin told her sternly, "Sphotana don't be rude!"

Only then did she shake Mr. Ollivanders hand and timidly look up into his silver eyes with her own gold ones.

"You are here to get a wand." It wasn't a question.

"You must know that no wands are exactly the same, we use three magical items as the core, dragon heartstrings, unicorn hairs and phoenix tail feathers. The wand chooses the wizard or in this case the witch, this has been evident to wand makers for a very long time. Now which is your wand arm?"

Sphotana held out both arms silently so her father hurried to explain: "She is both handed, does everything with both hands, whichever is more useful I think."

Sphotana nodded silently. "Well then hold out your arm, the right one first."

Mr. Ollivander started measuring Sphotana's arm switching from left to right a few times until finally the tape rolled itself up and slipped back into Ollivanders pocket. He then took one of the boxes from the shelf and placed it on his desk.

"Willow and dragon heartstring, 11 ½ inches, very flexible, try it." he said handing Sphotana the wand.

But just as Sphotana's fingers closed around the wood Mr. Ollivander pulled it back, putting it carefully back into its box and laid it aside, taking a new box.

This happened time and time again: Mr. Ollivander getting out new wands, then taking them back almost immediately. As the shelves emptied, Sphotana noticed that Mr. Ollivander didn't seem to get impatient. He still seemed as happy as when they had first entered the shop, he only seemed a little thoughtful as he flitted around the shop.

"I wonder..." he muttered as he paused behind the counter, still littered with boxes.

He glanced at Sphotana to find her staring at him, golden eyes slightly worried, wondering if she would get a wand at all.

Mr. Ollivander looked a little sad as he pulled a box from one of the draws of his desk. This box was no different from the rest, an indistinct dark colour with a small label on the front and back, exept for the fact that Mr. Ollivander cradled the box slightly in his arms, a strange look on is face.

He took the wand out and stared at it for a long moment then sidled around the desk and handed it to Sphotana without a word.

Something pricked at Sphotana's fingers causing her to almost drop it in surprise. She gritted her teeth and gripped the wand fiercely trying to ignore the pain making her whole arm sting.

Still gripping the wand tightly she flicked it just a fraction. The reaction was immediate; grey, black and gold sparks erupted out of the tip clustering together to form the shape of a minute grey wolf and black dog both with burning gold eyes staring at Sphotana until they fizzled out of existence.

Sphotana looked at the others who were all smiling. Had they seen it? Mr. Ollivander took the wand and placed it tenderly back into the box saying as he did so: "Apple and phoenix feather, 11½ inches, a fine wand"

He gave the box to Sphotana's mother while her father paid 7 gold Galleons. They left the shop, not noticing that Mr. Ollivander wiped his eyes staring after them for a long time, and headed for the Leaky Cauldron.

They were just outside the pub when Rick called them back. He clasped hands with Pete, shook hands with Sara-lin and finally turned to Sphotana. He pulled a small brown package out of his robes and handed it to her with a wink.

"So you'll remember me when you're at Hogwarts, ok Firehead" He waved once more and went back to his family who were waiting by the fireplace.

Back at home Sphotana lay on her bed staring at the ceiling the wolf and the dog still hovering before her minds eye. For her the nights that followed would be full of dogs and wolves with burning eyes.


	3. AN

Ok im sorry this isn't the story here, just me and a couple of questions.

you see i got this review yesterday:

'Wow, your grammar and overall quality is actually better then I expected, after looking at your summary. Just saying, make sure she doesn't turn into a Mary Sue. There are several things on the Internet that can help you identify your character as a Sue and make the proper revisions. Just search up: Mary Sue Quiz'

i've looked things up and thought about it a lot and now here's my question:

do you think Icefire is Mary Sue-isch? What do you think i should change?

just please answer either through a review or PM me

thanks for your help i hope to make this story better through this

PS: i am writing on the next chapie as fast as i can ;)

PPS: does anyone have a good idea for a title? mine seems a bit lame but i don't have any good ideas :(


	4. ch 2 the Hogwarts Express

The Hogwarts Express

The day before her departure for Hogwarts found Sphotana lying on the hearth rug in the sitting room looking at the parcel Rick had given her that day in Diagon Alley. Just as she had reached the decision that she would open it on the train tomorrow her mother came in holding her wand, a wad of paper and a quill.

She sat down and placed the paper on the coffee table. Sphotana looked up, then crawled over to look at the paper. To her disappointment it was empty.

She had hoped to see one of Sara-lins beautiful drawings. Seeing the disappointment in her daughters' eyes she smiled and said,

"We have to do something about your hair Sphotana, something practical for school so it doesn't get in the way all the time as it does here."

Sphotana glanced at her hair, whose long, thick tresses reached her waist. It was true that it only got in the way, but Sphotana had always been too lazy to do something about it in the last few years. Now it was full of twigs and leaves from when she had been playing outside. Her mother was right, something had to be done.

"Ok, but what could I do?" Sphotana started thinking of different hairstyles she had seen in the past years, but none really seemed to fit.

"Well," Sara-lin thought for a moment, then, Sphotana watching closely, started drawing some sketches onto the paper. Finished she held it up and asked "What do you think?"

Sphotana nodded slowly then started making suggestions. After half an hour they had finally found something that both of them liked. Sara-lin placed the paper back on the table and took up her wand. Sphotana sat very still as her mother started cutting away long strands of hair that fell to the floor like snowflakes.

Next morning Sphotana woke far too early, much like every young witch and wizard up and down the country starting school this year. After throwing the last items into the already overfilled trunk she tried to close it, but to no avail.

Taking everything out again she started from scratch, pilling everything in, in a jumbled mess. When Sara-lin entered the room she was still trying to close the lid. Sara-lin smiled then waved her wand. The contents of the trunk flew into the air and started folding itself neatly back into it.

"You'll never get it all in if you don't have some kind of order" she smiled at her daughter, who looked enviously at the now closed and locked trunk.

She sighed and went to the window, opened it wide and called for Frost, who had been nesting on the roof. Once the owl had settled on the girls shoulder she followed her mother out of the room towards breakfast.

A few hours later they stood in front of Kings Cross Station, Frost sleeping on Sphotana's shoulder. The trolley Pete was pushing was loaded with his daughter's trunk and a shoulder bag she would be using as a school bag in the year to come.

Inside the station Sphotana couldn't stop staring. So many muggles! They past tourists, business men and quite a few families who looked a little out of place; Wizards.

As the barrier came nearer they saw a group of people, all with flaming red hair grouped around it. As they reached the family Sphotana just caught the back of a dark haired boy vanish into the barrier.

"Arthur Weasley," Pete said, "Nice to see you, how is your work going?"

"Fine, fine."

The man, Arthur replied as a young red headed boy set off, walking very fast, towards the barrier. Sphotana watched through the bangs hiding her face as he disappeared.

Wondering what exactly was on the other side, she contemplated the rest of the Weasley family left. Arthur, a tall red haired man, stood next to his wife, a plump witch, with the same red hair, her arm pinning a girl to her side. This girl also had red hair and looked rather upset about something.

Although Sphotana was sure she was older than the girl, the Weasley topped her height by several centimeters. She was without a trunk and stared at the barrier enviously. Arthur and his wife took the girl between them and, after a quick nod to Pete, ran through the barrier as well.

Pete meandered up to it and leaned against it. A second later he was gone. Sara-lin took Sphotanas's trolley and her hand and followed at a run. Just before the impact Sphotana shut her eyes tight.

When she opened them again, she was on the crowded platform 9 ¾. The Hogwarts express stood waiting, ready to take her to what would be her new home for the next 7 years. She swallowed then followed her mother and father in search of an empty compartment.

They were stopped however by some work colleges who chatted with both Sphotana's parents for so long they only noticed when the whistle blew signaling the departure of the train. They hurried Sphotana on to the train, said their goodbyes and waved until the train was no longer in sight.

Sara-lins smile slipped slightly "I hope she'll be alright."

Pete put an arm around her, "She'll be fine, don't worry." But he looked as unsettled as she did.

Harry watched the fields and rivers flash past as he talked with Ron.

When Ron fell silent he looked around. Ron was staring out of the compartment door at a tiny girl, smaller even than Ginny, standing by the window.

She had red hair, not gingery like Ron's but real red like dried blood, or the embers of a fire. It was cut short and stuck out around her head all except for a long thin pony tail tied at the nape of her neck that fell ¾ of the way down her back.

Harry and Ron watched her for a while not speaking until she turned and walked gracefully, despite the movement of the train, down the corridor.

"She was wired," Ron muttered as her turned back to Harry shaking his head.

"Did you see her eyes?" Harry shook his head.

"She had yellow eyes; I swear I saw them when she turned around."

"Are you sure you didn't imagine them, or maybe it was a trick of the light?" "Yeah, maybe. But what if it was real, that would be creepy." Ron shivered.

They let the subject drop after that and they didn't see the girl again for the rest of the journey.

Sphotana had finally found a compartment. Near the front of the train three boys, a small, white haired one and two thugs, had gone out of their compartment leaving it empty.

Sphotana flitted inside and closed the door quickly hoping no one would notice the almost empty compartment. She sat down at the window and opened her bag, pulling out the present Rick had given her in Diagon Alley.

Placing it lightly on her lap, she pulled of the paper. Inside there was an assortment of sweets from 'Sugarplum's Sweetshop' and a longish box.

Opening the box Sphotana let out a small gasp; a beautiful quill lay on a faded piece of cloth. It was black with a red edge and streaks running through it. Next to the quill lay a bottle of colour changing ink. Sphotana beamed and tucked the presents back inside her bag.

Suddenly the door opened and the three boys came back in.

"Who are you? What are you doing in our compartment?" the white haired one asked quite rudely.

"I'm sitting" came the reply from the girl at the window, not looking at the boys.

"Oh yeah?" the boy sneered. "Well, this is our compartment and you should be leaving, now." It wasn't a request, it was an order.

Sphotana ignored it. Who was this guy to order her about anyway?

"Why should I?" she challenged, turning to stare at the boy, eyes blazing.

He blanched. "D-Demon! You monster, what are you?" he stuttered stumbling backwards. The door slammed behind them and they were gone.

Sphotana looked back out the window, tears welling up in her eyes. If this was how people would treat her at Hogwarts she could go home straight away.

NO! She brushed the tears away and stared resolutely at the seat opposite. She would not just give up before it had even started and if it got really bad then she still had the animals at Hogwarts. She would be fine.

The rest of the journey went quietly. Sphotana spent her time talking with Frost, who had woken just before twilight. When the announcement came that they would arrive in a few minutes, Sphotana changed into her robes. They were slightly too big but she didn't mind, hopefully she would grow a bit.


	5. ch 3 The Sorting

The Sorting

When the train arrived at Hogsmead station Sphotana headed out of the compartment, head down. In the general bustle to get out of the train she got pushed about a lot and even nearly got squashed. Then over the racket she heard a loud booming voice call,

"Firs'-years! Firs'-years, over here. All Firs'-years!-"

Not able to fight against the tide of students heading off the platform she crashed headlong into someone.A large hand picked her up by the scruff of her robes and set her carefully put her back on her feet.

"Sorry, didn' see yeh there small one, hope I didn' hurt yeh."

Sphotana shook her head and brushed herself off. By now the rest of the scared looking first years had gathered around calling once more over the heads of the crowd the man set off and Sphotana followed along with the others, all of whom were staring at his back. He was huge! At least double the size of any normal man, he towered above them.

For some reason though Sphotana wasn't scared. He smelled like deep forests, wild mountains and the cind of smell one might expect in a lab, but seemed to have the same effect on her as the animals did; a feeling of belonging, reassurance and safety. The giant lead them to the edge of a great lake where a number of little boats floated quietly.

They all piled in. Sphotana got in a boat with a boy with messy black hair, the ginger haired Weasley from the platform, a girl with frizzy brown locks and a boy who kept snivelling muttering about losing a toad.

Across the lake they went all staring at the huge castle that loomed over them, many windows alight. After putting her hand in the water Sphotana, cursing her silliness, tried to warm up her freezing hands by putting them in her pockets and found a toad cowering in one of them. Looking around to make sure no one saw she bent down to ask him where he had come from.

He started blabbering: "There was a fly; it looked really juicy so I went after it but when I came back Neville was gone! I looked all over the place and couldn't find him. I'm Trevor by the way-"

Sphotana interrupted, "Shhh. Someone will hear you. I think Neville is sitting behind me, but wait a sec! Before you go, promise you'll stop going after flies, ok."

"Can't promise that!" And with that he was gone, hopped over her shoulder into Neville's lap.

"Trevor!" The toad croaked a greeting in reply, but only Sphotana understood. She smiled slightly at the affectionate greeting and the many apologies that came from the toad.

Once on the other side of the lake, they went up a long slippery path until they reached the gigantean oak front door. After the man banged three times on it, the door swung open, revealing a witch dressed all in green with a tall pointed hat atop her black bun.

"The firs'- years, Professor McGonagall, "he rumbled.

"Thank you Hagrid. I will take them from here." And she pulled the doors wide.

The entrance hall was magnificent; the ceiling almost out of sight with great stairs leading upwards. Professor McGonagall led them through the entrance hall to a small room to the right of another set of double doors, out of which came the sound of hundreds of students, and told them to be quiet.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, "before we begin the start of term feast, you must be sorted into the houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. While you are here you will belong to your house, like to a family. Do well here and you will earn house points, fail to follow the rules and you will lose points. At the end of the year the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great achievement. I trust you will all work hard in which ever house becomes yours."

She glanced around at them all, "The Sorting Ceremony with start shortly. I suggest you smarten yourselves up a bit before I return. "

She eyed some individuals, then swept off. Sphotana heard someone ask,

"How exactly do they sort us into the houses?"

And someone else answered, "Some sort of test I think, Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

Sphotana body froze up. A test? What would they have to do? (And who was Fred?)

But before she could continue that train of thought, a couple of ghosts burst out of the wall discussing loudly. Sphotana didn't really listen, just watched the ghosts glide about the room shimmering. They were kind of pretty, although one did have a rather large dark stain on his front.

Then Professor McGonagall was back, shooing all the ghosts out the opposite wall that they had come from. Sphotana felt numb. She was about to walk out in front of a whole schools worth of people and be tested on something, she didn't even know. She walked after the rest of the first-years and came out last into the great hall.

Professor McGonagall as standing next to a stool with an old pointy hat sitting on it and a roll of parchment in her hand. Then when everything was quiet the hat moved. One of its many rips opened as it began to sing:

"Oh you may not think me pretty,  
>But don't judge on what you see,<br>I'll eat myself if you can find  
>A smarter hat than me.<br>You can keep your bowlers black,  
>Your top hats sleek and tall,<br>For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
>And I can cap them all.<br>There's nothing hidden in your head  
>The Sorting Hat can't see,<br>So try me on and I will tell you  
>Where you ought to be.<p>

You might belong in Gryffindor,  
>Where dwell the brave at heart,<br>Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
>Set Gryffindors apart;<br>You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
>Where they are just and loyal,<br>Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
>And unafraid of toil;<br>Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
>if you've a ready mind,<br>Where those of wit and learning,  
>Will always find their kind;<br>Or perhaps in Slytherin  
>You'll make your real friends,<br>Those cunning folks use any means  
>To achieve their ends.<p>

So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
>And don't get in a flap!<br>You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
>For I'm a Thinking Cap!"<p>

Everyone burst into applause and when it cleared Professor McGonagall took the hat and read the first name on the list.

"Abbot, Hannah."

Sphotana listened with dread as the names were called and the new kids went to the stool to be sorted. It seemed quite an easy task, but Sphotana was quivering like autumn leaves on an old tree.

When her name was called Sphotana somehow made it up to Professor McGonagall and sat down on the stool. As the hat descended over her eyes the last thing she saw was Professor McGonagall giving her a small smile.

For a long time nothing happened. Sphotana, who had closed her eyes when the hat slipped over them, opened them again, but she saw just as much as she had with her eyes closed. She sat there, listening for the call that would surely resonate into the great hall at any minute. Or not? What if the hat didn't sort her, what if the hat stayed silent! Then a small voice in her ear made her jump.

'Oh not another one! You people are more trouble then you're worth, honestly-'

It continued in this way for quite some time. Sphotana started trying to ignore the ranting in her ears, but it was difficult. She had started humming a tune in her head before it said tiredly

'Ah well, it has nothing to do with me. Now let's see... hmm, assets of three of the houses, not like we haven't had that before. We'll get through this mess. Any preferences?'

Sphotana stared. The hat was asking her in which house she wanted to be in? Was that even allowed?

'Of cource its allowed, otherwise I wouldn't be asking, would I!' The hat snapped back. 'No preference? Ok.' The hat fell silent again.

Sphotana started to get bored, how long had she been sitting here? 5 minutes? 10? It must be really boring to do and watch all this every year she thought at one point, before her thoughts wandered on.

Finally the hat had decided. Sphotana heard it shout to the hall: "GRIFFINDOR!" 'I hope that I chose right...' it muttered as Professor McGonagall took the hat from her head.

The Hall was filled with applause as Sphotana headed towards its source; the table on the far left of the hall. Once she had plopped down at one of the empty seats and the attention had redirected itself at the hat, Sphotana took the chance to look around the large hall.

The wall was intersected with a man high, open fireplace on each side of the hall and the ceiling, when Sphotana looked up, seemed, at first, not to be there, until she overheard the brown haired girl say it was bewitched to reduplicate the sky outside. Sphotana wondered what reduplicate meant.

Next her gaze swept over the thousands of students at the long house tables, a mass of black robes and pointed hats, all facing the front, where the students were still being sorted, anticipation on their faces as they tried to guess where the next kid would be sorted to.

Finally the golden eyes rested on the teachers table at the top of the hall behind the first years. The man in the middle was watching, not the sorting, but her and as she locked her eyes to his clear blue ones, she could have sworn he had winked at her before turning back to the sorting as the name 'Potter, Harry' rang out into the hall.

Everyone fell silent at once, as they all craned their necks to see the famous boy. Sphotana, still sitting in front of most of the students stared at the boy, known by every self-respecting witch or wizard in the country and probably everywhere else in the world too. Sphotana had to admit he looked very normal, not the great wizard everyone had been hoping for then.

The hat stayed quiet for a time until: "GRIFFINDOR!" Sphotana nearly jumped out of her skin as the table behind her practically exploded. Everyone was on their feet yelling their joy at the enchanted ceiling, boasting to the other houses, congratulating each other on getting Harry Potter into their house. Sphotana clapped along with the rest, wondering why they were congratulating themselves on doing nothing at all. The hat had put Harry Potter into Gryffindor, not them.

Said boy fell into the seat next to Sphotana, not glancing at her, but looking at the staff table. Sphotana went back to letting her mind wonder until the last first year had been sorted. Only then did the man who had winked at her stand as Professor McGonagall took the stool, the hat and the scroll away. As the old man held his arms wide, Sphotana realised this had to be the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

He beamed at the students and welcomed them with some very strange words: 'Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!' As he sat back down the laughs that had filled the hall silenced as food appeared on the tables and everyone dug in.

Sphotana listened to the conversations around her as she started eating. The students talked of holidays, the new school year, pets, pretty much every topic could be heard around the room, if one listened properly.

The students around her didn't glance twice at the small girl in their midst so Sphotana was able to eat in relative peace. Her fellow first years were talking to a ghost wearing a rather large ruff around his neck. When he showed them his severed head Sphotana shuddered, looking away, then shuddered much more violently when the ghost glided right through her on its way to a different group of older students.

Once he was gone the puddings appeared. If the first course had been good, it was nothing compared to this; cakes, carved in various artistic forms, great, self freezing columns of ice-cream, tarts in every colour and size, mountains of doughnuts, the list went on and on, every delicacy you could imagine was piled on the tables. As Sphotana took herself a doughnut the first years chatter turned to their families.

One boy told the group that his mother was a witch and his father a muggle. Neville, the boy with the toad, Trevor said he had been brought up by his grandmother and that his family had thought he was all muggle for a long time until some relation had accidentally dropped him out of a window. Others told their stories as well and Sphotana listened while eating her doughnut, until one boy turned to her and asked:

"What about you, what's your name by the way?" he smiled at her as she looked at him through her bangs, careful not to let anyone see her eyes. All the others stared at her until she answered in a small voice,

"I don't know, I'm adopted, I don't know my real parents." They all stayed quiet for a second, then a sandy haired boy opposite Harry sai,

"Hey Ron, your hair pales next to hers, huh. So you still didn't tell us your name Firehead!"

Sphotana head snapped up to stare at the boy, not being used to the name being used by someone other than Rick. She watched the reactions on the boy's faces as they saw the strange eye-colour. Ron swore, one girl made the cross sign on her chest and the rest simply stared. Sphotana sadly went back to her doughnut.

She should have known; these people would not be different from the boys on the train. She tried not to listen to the whispers next to her and focused instead on the conversation between the ghost who had floated through her earlier and the group of older students sitting at the other end of the table.

She gleamed that the ghost was called Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, that he was the ghost of Gryffindor tower and that he had been unsuccessful yet again to join the Headless Hunt, whatever that was.

Once she had finished her doughnut, Harry, still eating treacle tart, asked her,

"So, what is your name? I'm Harry, by the way, Harry Potter."

Sphotana stared at her empty plate, had he not seen her eyes?

"I know who you are, everyone does. I'm Sphotana, Sphotana Nightlark." she whispered almost inaudibly, inwardly cursing her shyness or whatever it was that made it so hard to talk to people she didn't know.

Harry, noticing her stiffen next to him simply smiled and said,

"Nice to meet you Sphotana, that's an interesting name."

Then he turned back to Ron and the others. Once the puddings too had disappeared Professor Dumbledore stood once more. Once more Sphotana didn't listen to what he was saying, but absentmindedly stared around the room.

She was therefore very much surprised when the whole school burst into song, most rather off tune. She looked towards the staff table and saw the ribbon trailing words above Dumbledore's head. After the ribbon had vanished, the headmaster bade them all a good night and dismissed them.

At once a red haired boy, who looked a little like Ron, with a shiny badge on the front of his robes, started calling for the first years to follow him. They dragged themselves off the benches and followed the boy, most stumbling out of pure tiredness.

The boy led them up stairs, along corridors, through doors, portraits and walls, until they reached a painting of a fat lady in a silk dress. He said something to her and the painting swung forward letting them into the round common room. He showed them the staircases leading up to their dorms and bade them good night, just as Dumbledore had done.

Weary to the bone, Sphotana trudged up the stairs to the tower room that she would be sharing with the other Gryffindor girls for the next seven years. Not looking at any of the others, she changed and was asleep, almost before her head hit the pillow of her four-poster bed.


	6. ch 4 Beautiful loner

Sorry for the overly long wait! I had to redo the old chapters as there were a few mistakes and changes i needed to fix, but now I can concentrate on getting the new chapters out, YAY!

* * *

><p>When Sphotana awoke the next morning, it was still dark. She lay for a moment, listening to the deep breathing all around the room. Finally, when just listening got boring, she got up and dressed. Slipping out of the door she flitted down the spiral staircase and crossed the pitch black common room.<p>

Thankful that the sleeping Fat Lady in the portrait had not noticed her, she set off down the corridor, looking for stairs leading down, hopefully to a door that lead outside.

Just as the sky outside the windows was getting slightly lighter, Sphotana had to admit, she was rather hopelessly lost.

Finally she opened a window and peered out. The ground was still very far away, but Sphotana clambered out nonetheless. The rough stone wall provided plenty of hand and foot holds as the small girl climbed down swiftly, concentrating hard.

She had found out some years ago that if she thought of specific animals while doing something, like in this case climbing, she would get better at that skill. Focusing on monkeys, squirrels and geckos, her hands felt strong and secure against the wall.

Pushing off roughly five meters above the ground, she sailed through the air, landing catlike on all fours. Grinning she looked around before setting off in a random direction to start exploring.

As Sphotana raced over the lawns, robes streaming behind her, alternating between two and four limbs on the ground, she was quickly joined by curious animals. Greeting them she ran on, the animals dropping back as the girl crossed a broad road leading down from the front doors.

Now only followed by a few birds, which fluttered above her head and sang happily as the first true rays of sunlight broke above the line of trees they were heading for. Veering slightly to the left she kept going until she had reached the trees.

Flitting between the huge trunks she headed deeper, finally stopping in a small clearing she flopped onto the floor, laughing as all manner of small woodland animals scampered around her. Staring up at the small patch of light blue sky visible through the still thick canopy above her, she lay there quietly for a while.

Slowly a new scent, other than the common forest smells, drifted to Sphotana's nose. The unknown smell reminded slightly of vanilla and apples. Sitting up she looked around, trying to locate the strange scent. Then, through the undergrowth surrounding the clearing, Sphotana glimpsed a flicker of movement.

Sphotana gasped. Out of the bush carefully stepped a large silvery white horse, an ivory spiraled horn on its forehead. It walked closer on long slender legs, silver tail swishing and looked at the girl now standing in the middle of the clearing; the only creatures left a few birds still fluttering around her head, with soft dark eyes.

The unicorn shook its mane and snorted slightly, then bowed its head so that its eyes were on a level with Sphotana's. Barely a meter apart they watched each other, the world around them seemingly frozen, the girl gazing at the creature in front of her in awe. Then collecting herself, she spoke first, as was custom.

"Greetings, silver horn bearer, I an sorry if I have disturbed you. If you wish it, I will not return here."

Sphotana had learned the hard way that it was better to treat superior creatures, any magical beings and most carnivores, with the due respect and reverence, also that some animals did not like anybody entering their territory.

"Oh no, please stay Elamien, I am always alone here, it would be nice to have some company. I'm Ink by the way."

Now that the formal part was over Sphotana breathed a small sigh of relief, she never liked having to be so stiff, but it was better this way than the other. She did notice the strange title Ink had given her, but supposed it was a unicorn thing, having never met one before.

"I'm Sphotana, and may Iask why you are alone? I thought unicorns lived in herds."

Sphotana had read a lot about all different animals, unicorns too, and was now rather confused.

"Usually we do, but I was sent away when I was still a small foal." Ink looked rather depressed.

"If you don't mind, why did the other unicorns send you away?" Sphotana asked, hopping she was not pushing to far.

"My mother disowned me because of this," turning slightly, he showed the shocked girl a large burn that stretched from his left shoulder to his back leg. No silver hair grew there anymore and the skin was black as charcoal.

"My mother was very pretty and also very vain. Each of her foals before me were perfect, she told me. But just after I was born, only a few summers ago, there was a big fire, deep in the forest. Unicorn foals are very dependent on the protection of their mothers you know. I had wondered too far away and got caught in the flames. I was saved, not by my mother, she was too buzzy running away herself, but by the centaurs. When they brought me back to the herd, my mother was happy to see me, but when she saw this," he flicked his left ear back, "she renamed me Ink and chased me away. the centaurs too care of me a bit like a pet until I could fend for myself. Since then I've been pretty much alone." He finished bitterly.

Turning he started out of the clearing, flicking his ear to indicate she should follow him. Hurrying after him Sphotana noticed Ink was leading her back the way she had come. After a moment of walking in silence Ink asked,

"But why are you here Elamien Sphotana? Students of the school do not usually come into the forest and I have never felt the need to come see anybody either and why do I understand you when you talk, I don't even understand the centaurs or Hagrid, so why you?" He was so full of questions.

"Who's Hagrid?"

"Hagrid is the man who comes into the forest to help the sick, injured and weak. I rarely go to him, I'm fine on my own."

Sphotana smiled as he drew himself up proudly. Then jumped as a dog barked loudly nearby. Ink looked up, delicate nostrils flaring slightly as he sniffed the air. Sphotana copied him and smelt someone approaching fast, quickly identifying the scent as the same man who had shown the first years the way over the lake.

"Hagrid is coming, he will show you the way back to the castle. I cannot go further than this."

"Oh, right. I'll come see you again, ok?" She was Inks eyes light up slightly at the suggestion.

"I'll try and bring you something, apples?" Ink nodded happily and butted his head thankfully against her shoulder, before turning and trotting back into the deeper parts of the forest, calling over his shoulder,

"I'll see you in the clearing, when ever you have time. Good bye, Elamien Sphotana"

Sphotana watched him till his silver pelt had disappeared, observing he walked normally despite the burn scar.

"Oi! What are ye' doing in here? Students aren't supposed to go into the forest, it's dangerous!-" As Sphotana turned to look at Hagrid hurrying towards her, he stopped. "Oh, it's you. Still you should be getting up to the castle small one, if you still want yer breakfast."

Sphotana nodded smiling, then held out her hand for the large boar-hound to sniff that sat, tail wagging at Hagrid's feet.

"That's Fang by the way, he found yeh, an' yer better be glad as yeh would have missed breakfast if yeh came any later."

Hagrid set off, back out of the shelter of the trees, Sphotana running to catch up with him, Fang lolopping by her side. Jogging next to the huge man, she was quiet as Hagrid told her about the castle and grounds, pointing some of them out as they walked.

As they neared the now open castle doors Hagrid asked, "Yeh alright small one? Yer awfully quiet."

"I'm fine Hagrid, thank you for bringing me back here."

They had reached the the doors and the entrance hall was filled with students making their way to breakfast. As Sphotana turned to say goodbye to Fang before the boarhound went back to Hagrids hut, Hagrid made his way into the great hall, pushing his way through the flocks of students easily.

Sphotana gritted her teeth, delved into the crowd and followed the flow of students into the great hall. Somehow it looked less imposing than yesterday. Most of the Gryfindor table was already full, but Sphotana found a place, about 3/4 down the table. She sat down just as the post arrived.

Frost fluttered down onto the table as Sphotana was taking a piece of toast and talked happily about her first night at Hogwarts. Sphotana nodded absentmindedly as she thought of poor Ink, separated from his herd, forced to live on the outskirts of the forest.

Taking a napkin, she placed two apples into it and used the leather band on Frosts leg to tie it up securely. Stroking the owl she instructed her to fly into the forest and find a unicorn with a black mark, to whom to give the apples.

After eating a handful of bread crumbs, the owl ruffled her feathers and flew back out of the high windows, Sphotana hoped the apples weren't too heavy for Frost to carry, but then it was not that far to the forest, she thought, tucking into her toast at last.

Just as she had finished and was starting to wonder what to do now, she saw Professor McGonagall moving down the table handing the students timetables.

By the time Professor McGonagall had reach her, Sphotana had peeled an orange and eaten half of it already.

"Miss Nightlark, here is your timetable, classes start in half an hour, so i suggest you go get your things."

"Yes Professor." Sphotana looked over the timetable and, tucking it inside her pocket hurried out of the great hall and up the marble staircase, trying to remember the path the prefect had shown them yesterday night.

Reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady without having to muster the courage to speak with anybody for directions she stopped horrified as the Fat Lady asked, "Password?"

Sphotana stared at the painting, and the painting stared right back, until someone rounded the corner and noticed them.

"You're a first year, right. The password is Caput Draconis, remember it, you won't always be as lucky as today."

As he walked passed her to go into the common room Sphotana recognized him to be the prefect who had shown them the way to the dormitories after the feast. Her muttered 'thank you' had been accepted with a tiny nod as he disappeared into the common room.

Scrambling after the older boy, Sphotana ran up the stairs to the dormitories. Sorting through her trunk she pulled out the books she would need for the next two lessons, along with parchment, a new bottle of ink and the beautiful red and black quill Rick Burns had given her in Diagon Alley.

Rushing back down the stairs, through the portrait hole, along numerous corridors, she reached the charms classroom without incident, thanks to Professor McGonagalls detailed explanation as to how to get to the classroom from the Gryfindor common room.

Choosing a seat right at the back she copied the rest of the class in getting out her books, quill, ink and parchment. As the tiny Professor Flitwick called out the names on his list, Sphotana listened carefully, locating each student as their name was called. Even if she did not make any friends, she wanted to at least know the names of her classmates.

When Professor Flitwick reached her name, she managed to squeeze out a 'yes' and hoped it didn't sound too pathetic. At Harry Potters name, Professor Flitwick squeaked and fell of the pile of books he had been standing on. Once Professor Flitwick started telling them about the basics of charms, Sphotana once again felt the urge to switch off, to turn her attention the other, more interesting, in her opinion, things around the room.

Trying to stay focused, she doodled on a piece of parchment. By the end of the lesson, Sphotana had only paid attention for a few minutes. Looking over her almost nonexistent notes and the assignment Professor Flitwick had given them for homework, she sighed, it was going to be difficult to grasp even the question. She had to stop phasing out.

Following the rest of the class she trudged out of the front doors, happy to be back outside, and around the castle to the greenhouses, huge overgrown glasshouses, filled with all manner of strange and magical plant life.

Professor Sprout was already waiting for them. She stood in front of the nearest greenhouse, tapping her foot impatiently. She called them to order and they gathered round, Sphotana slightly to one side, staring at the ground.

"Welcome to Herbology, for this year, you will only have lessons in Greenhouse one." She indicated the glasshouse behind her, then barked, "You four at the back, pay attention, or I'll set you juicing dandy-mint."

None of the first years had a clue what dandy-mint was, but the threat seemed rather real and juicing mint did not sound to be very fun. Professor Sprout frowned at the now silent Hufflepuffs for a moment, then pulled a large ring of keys from the pocket of her already earth covered through them, she unlocked the greenhouse door and led them inside.

Part of the huge interior had been refunctioned into a kind of classroom, with three long tables facing a counter like table for Professor Sprout, which was covered with various strange plants. The benches around the walls and in the back of the classroom were pretty much overflowing with all manner of greenery, small and thorny, big and leafy, Sphotana even saw something that looked like it belonged underwater waving its long tentacle like arms happily in the air.

Choosing a seat at the end of the middle table, she stared around her. Almost immediately she regretted her choice of seat. She was sitting next to a plant with dark purple leaves and orange tentacles winding around the branches. That wasn't what was bothering her though, on the contrary, it was rather interesting.

No, it was the smell coming off the plant in waves, like blood and bad eggs mixed, and it was making Sphotana feel incredibly sick. Putting her hands over her nose and mouth she tried holding her breath, but it didn't work.

Damm her sensitive senses! For any other student, the odor may have been slightly uncomfortable, but probably easy to ignore, for Sphotana however, with her heightened animalistic senses, it was absolute torture.

Trying to ignore the stench, Sphotana concentrated on Professor Spout who was telling them how to identify and distinguish plants. An hour later, Sphotana's concentration had only slipped occasionally when she had inwardly cursed the purple plant with every bad word she could think of, which were a surprisingly large number.

Maybe it was good to have such refined perception... Sometimes.

The bell rang, almost drowning Professor Sprouts voice as she set them the task of finding out about the five methods of classifying plans she had not mentioned in todays lesson. Sphotana was pretty sure she could do it this time, unlike charms and thought ironically that maybe it was a good thing to have sat down next to what had to be the most repulsive plant on the planet.

Hitching her bag higher up her shoulder, she hurried away from the sordid plant without a backwards glance, hoping dearly she wouldn't have to sit there again.

Due to her flight from the greenhouse, Sphotana was the first to arrive in the entrance hall, which was filled with the smell of lunch drifting out of the great hall along with the sound of talk, laughter and cutlery. Still feeling slightly nauseous she decided to skip lunch and made her way up the marble staircase, against the tide of hungry students that had not made it to the great hall yet.

As the stream of people ebbed Sphotana realised she had been shunted into a different part of the castle and was, once again, lost. Huffing to herself she moved on, peering left and right through various doors. After walking for about five minutes, still checking doors now and then, until she reached a tall archway in the wall, leading to a large door, that was slightly ajar.

Poking her head around it, she gasped, the sound oddly loud in the otherwise silent room. Sphotana had found the library. Shelves apon shelves of books stretched in all directions with tables in between. Despite not being the most avid book lover, she knew to appreciate the dusty volumes tacked to the ceiling in this huge chamber.

Running her hand over the thick leather bound volumes, she meandered down the rows, glad the other students were to engrossed in their own work to even glance at her. Most of the titles made absolutely no sense to Sphotana, but it was fun to read them.

Moving even deeper into the labyrinth of shelves, a book caught her eye, it looked no different than the rest around it, but the title had caught her attention. Apart from being in normal understandable english, the actual wording flashed warning signs at Sphotana; 'Identifying Magical Plants'

Looking left and right at the books around her, she realised she had reached the herbology section. Pulling the large book out of the shelf she put it on the one of the many tables. Flipping open the cover, she pulled out her notes from the lesson and started to work.

The book was very helpful and Sphotana was done in no time at all. Carefully slotting it back in it's place, she made her way out of the library.

Wandering along the corridors she found herself back in a corridor she recognized. Seizing the chance she made her way through the now familiar corridors to the portrait hole. Seeing the portrait hole closed, she groaned inwardly. Almost like a mantra she started chanting in her head, 'It's only a portrait. I can do this.'

The Fat Lady looked at the small girl in front of her portrait. Saw her lips move but hardly heard her whispered "Caput Draconis" Recognizing the girl the red haired prefect had helped that morning she swung forward.

When Sphotana entered the common room, it was full. Students that had finished lunch milled about, chatting or doing homework. Squeezing past a group of rowdy older students, she hurried up the stairs to her dorm.

Emptying the contents of her bag onto the bed, she sorted through the pile, throwing the herbology things back into the trunk at the end of the bed and pushing the charms stuff to one side, as a reminder to do the homework later. Piling her transfiguration book and the other items scattered across the bed back into the bag, she swung it onto her shoulder and slipped back out of the dorm.

* * *

><p>Had to cut it here, as it was getting far too long.<p>

Drop me a line telling me how i did, it would be greatly appreciated.

Should get the next chapie out much faster :) Till then.


	7. ch 5 First Words

Happy New Year everyone!

I think this is the second time I've said this here... Time does fly!

Well here it is, I finally got round to finishing what was supposed to be the second part of chapter 4...

Special thanks to Vayalin Whisper, who I should have mentioned much earlier, for giving me the idea for the title of this fic

and of cource my new Beta, the wonderfull H2O Pokemon FAN, who has helped me out of a few writers blocks and other difficulties.

* * *

><p>Sphotana stepped down the stairs just as the first bell rang. Joining the crowd flooding out of the portrait hole, she wondered where her transfiguration class actually was. Spotting a girl with bushy brown hair, who she was pretty sure was first year, ask the same prefect who had told her the password something, she followed her, thinking she was slightly familiar.<p>

She was right. The girl led her straight to the room she was supposed to go. Sphotana had carefully remembered every turn and corridor, making sure she was not going to get lost again. Sitting down in a random seat, she pulled out her things, as Professor McGonagall started to lecture them about the importance and difficulty of transfiguration.

Staring at the bushy haired girl, Sphotana tried to remember where she had seen her before, other than in class. Letting her gaze sweep across the room, her eyes fell on the quill lying next to the ink bottle, the one Rick Burns had given her in Diagon Alley. As her eyes wandered back to the girl sitting diagonally three rows in front of her, she suddenly remembered.

The girl who had had her nose so deep in the book she was holding, it was a surprise that she could see the words at all, was the same girl who had been answering every question the teachers had asked correctly.

Thinking back to the register Professor Flitwick had called at the start of his lesson, the name 'Hermione Granger' popped into her mind. She watched as Hermione's hand flashed upwards, stretching towards the ceiling. Her answer came perfectly too, earning her five points for Gryffindor.

After Professor McGonagall had given them the task of completing the complicated notes with the help of their books, she left the room. A short while later a tabby cat slinked into the room unnoticed, jumped onto the desk and settled there, watching them work imperiously.

Sphotana grinned, recognizing the cats scent, and kept working. Her classmates, feeling watched kept their heads down too, until the door flew open and two boys ran in.

Harry Potter and his copper haired, freckled friend hurried towards their seats, the only two lest empty, while the red head puffed,

"Whew, can you imagine the look on Professor McGonagall's face if we were late."

In that precise moment the cat, that had been staring at them since they entered the room, pounced right at them. In mid leap, she transformed back into their, now very formidable looking teacher.

The class stared at Professor McGonagall as she offered to turn one of the boys into a pocket watch or map.

Once the class had settled down again, Professor McGonagall gave each of them a match, with the task of turning it into a needle. Showing them the incantation, she swept through the rows of desks, giving pointers to those who were doing it wrong, which was practically the whole class.

Hermione Granger was the only one to have managed it by the end of the lesson, earning praise from Professor McGonagall, who showed the class how pretty it had become.

Sphotana looked from the needle on Professor McGonagall's hand to her own match, lying innocently on the desk. Why didn't it work? The match wouldn't even turn silver as it had for some members of the class, let alone pointy and sharp like Hermione's.

But at least she wasn't the only one. Most of the class had had just as much trouble and when Professor MaGonagall gave them the homework of practicing Sphotana groaned along with the rest.

Traipsing out of the classroom, grumbling to one another, they made their way back to Gryffindor tower. Most flopped onto any vacant chairs left and complained a bit more to those nearest them.

Sphotana watched Hermione Granger curl up in a squashy armchair by one of the windows and pulled out a huge book out of her bag. Opening it, she settled down to read.

The small girl climed slowly up to the girls dormatories, flopped onto her bed and stared at the red canopy above her. She was exausted and it was only the first day!

Rolling over onto her stomach, she dragged her charms homework towards her and eyed it, not understanding a word.

Finally she opened the charms book lying next to her elbow and flicked through the first few chapters. Finding nothing, she sighed.

She could either leave it and risk house point deduction or detention or go back down into the common room and ask one of her classmates for help, but who would she ask? rolling of the four-poster, she made her way back down the spiral staircase and into the common room.

Hermione was still sitting curled in the armchair by the window, the large book in her lap. Sphotana drew a deep breath and started to walk towards the bushy haired girl, trying valiantly to keep herself from turning tail and scurrying right back up the stone stairs.

Stopping only meters away from the still obliviously reading girl, Sphotana tried to find the courage Gryffindors were so famous for inside herself, but to no avail. Moving swiftly past the bookwormish girl, Sphotana made her way out of the portrait hall.

Hurrying along the corridors, she mentally hexed herself. Why was it so hard to just ask a simple question? It wasn't as if Hermione Granger was going to eat her or something. She was so childish!

After a few unwanted detours, Sphotana arrived in the great hall just as the food appeared on the tables. Grabbing a napkin, she piled a couple of sandwiches onto it, and stuffed a few oranges and apples into her pocket, then went back out into the entrance hall, past the marble stair case and emerged, after a myriad of passages, under a massive clock tower, the weighty pendulum swinging in an almost hypnotising rhythm.

Dodging it, she moved into the courtyard, a large fountain in the middle. Dipping her hands in the cold water, Sphotana looked around. The courtyard stood, much like the rest of the castle, on a steep pinnacle of rock. The window-like arches in the walls all looked out on the rough landscape surrounding the castle, the deep ravines and sloping lawns. Opposite the clock tower was a rickety construction leading away from the castle.

Intrigued, Sphotana wiped her dripping hands on her robes and wandered over to the slanting structure. Upon closer inspection, Sphotana saw that it was, in fact, a wooden bridge leading over one of the gorges.

Stepping carefully onto the planks that made up the floor, the small girl pushed her whole, insignificant weight against one of the walls. Finding them quite stable, she jumped up onto the banister and sat there, looking down into the abyss, her feet swinging, munching on a sandwich.

This was the way Hagrid found her as he made his way to dinner. She was throwing tiny pieces of orange peel to the hundreds of birds surrounding her, laughing as they playfully grappled for them, the victor proudly bringing their prize back to her to be thrown again.

She turned just as the game keeper reached her. Smiling, she swung one leg back over the banister she was sitting on to face him. The birds, sensing that the game was over, fluttered down around her and sang quietly as nimble fingers absentmindedly stroked their soft feathers.

"Do they always do what yeh want 'em to, Small One?" His voice was gentle, even soft, quite a feat for such a large man.

She blinked up at him; his dark eyes were kind and warm, like shadows of rocks on very hot days. Most people were very surprised when she acted so normally around wild animals, even song birds, but to Hagrid it seemed almost normal, and maybe it was, he was the game keeper after all.

Slowly she answered, "Mostly, but only if I ask them nicely."

"An' they'll do anythin'?"

Was he prying? It was much more difficult to read people than animals. Sphotana looked back down at her hands.

"No. There are always limits. Some can do more than others, they are people; each of them is different." She smiled as a finch butted its head gently against her fingers.

When Hagrid spoke next, his voice was slightly more forceful than before, but still rather soft, "Listen, if yeh ever have any problems, go ter Dumbledore. He'll help yer, alrigh'? Great man Dumbledore, great man."

And with that he turned and ambled on throuth the courtyard, towards dinner in the great hall.

Sphotana starred after him. Go to Dumbledore? As if Dumbledore didn't have enough to do without her and some petty problem. Like Ink, she was fine on her own.

Thinking of the lonely unicorn, she smiled, friends were a wonderful thing. Waving to the flock of birds as they left, she wandered a little further down the bridge, to where it ended in a small stone building, similar to a pavilion.

Stepping out of its arches, Sphotana found herself at the edge of a stone circle, looking out over the grounds. She could see an octagonal hut at the edge of the forest, surrounded by a large pumpkin patch on one side.

Her eyes wandered to the forest, wandering what Ink was doing. She considered trying to find him, but thought better of it. It was getting dark after all and she still had to do that charms homework.

Sighing slightly Sphotana walked back to the castle. Through corridors lined with portraits who paid her just as much attention as she did them, up stairways, dragging her feet as the thought of the plan she had chickened out of earlier.

When Sphotana reentered the common room, it was practically empty. Everyone was at dinner. The few students still left paid the timid girl no attention as she flitted over to the table Hermione Granger had been sitting at.

Maybe if she just had a look at her notes the whole concept would become clear.

Her hopes were dashed as soon as she reached the table. Apparently Hermione Granger was not only smart but also very orderly. All her things were back in her bag which lay innocently on her vacated chair.

Bracing herself on her palms, Sphotana leant on the table, back hunched and head down, chanting a mantra in her head.

'I can do this! I'm not scared! I'm a Gryffindor; I'm supposed to be brave! I can do this!'

Pushing away from the table, she spun around, jumped into a chair and curled up, ready to wait. Golden eyes starred into the flames in the massive fireplace, just visible around the many armchairs littering the common room, and slowly drifted closed.

As chatter refilled the common room, Sphotana awoke from her catnap. She stretched comfortably for a moment until she remembered the motive that had kept her in the armchair.

Pulling her knees to her chest, Sphotana once again stared at the portrait hole, willing Hermione to come through, just so she could get this over with.

When Hermione returned to the common room, wanting only to read a little more of her book, she was rather surprised to find the red haired girl sitting directly opposite the chair she had been sitting in before dinner.

She approached cautiously, even she had heard the rumors; that the strange little first year was a half-breed, a demon, who could scorch you to death with one look. Hermione didn't really believe such nonsense, but then a while ago she hadn't believed in magic, wizards or witches either.

"Can I help you?"

Her tentative question, made the disconcerting eyes of the other girl flick from the window to Hermione's face. Slowly, she nodded, still not making a sound.

"What is it?"

Hermione found she could not take her eyes away from the shining, bottomless depths of gold. Was this some kind of spell?

Sphotana's hypnotic gaze shifted to Hermione's bag, freeing the poor girl from her self-induced paralysis.

"Umm, I wasn't paying attention in charms, so I don't understand our homework…" Sphotana trailed off, unable to continue.

"So you want me to help you." Again Sphotana nodded, not meeting Hermione's eyes.

"Ok, I'll help you, but only if you promise to pay attention next time."

Sweeping her bag onto her shoulder, Hermione plopped down onto the chair next to the vigorously nodding Sphotana and pulled out her books.

* * *

><p>So it seems Sphotana might have found a friend...<p>

Little question on the side: What do you like more? Long chapters with longer update times or more shorter chapters?

Drop me a line to tell me what you think, it would be greatly appriciated!

Till in another half year or so... ( I hope I'll get it out faster this time...)


End file.
